China has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over India’s subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs) and battery manufacturing.

A spokesman of China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed that the country had formally submitted a consultation request over India’s subsidies for the EV and battery sectors.

The spokesman claimed that the subsidies could be violating multiple obligations, including ‘national treatment,’ which are expressly prohibited by the WTO.

Under WTO rules, the national treatment obligation is a general prohibition on the use of internal taxes and other internal regulatory measures that are meant to protect domestic production.

“These measures give Indian industries an unfair competitive advantage and harm China’s interests. China will take resolute measures to effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its domestic industries,” the spokesman said.

China has urged India to abide by its WTO commitments and immediately correct its ‘erroneous’ practices.

Last September, India launched the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Program, and the PM-eBus Sewa-Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) Program.’ The PM E-DRIVE Program, with a total outlay of ₹109 billion (~$1.29 billion), focuses on providing demand incentives, deploying EVs, and developing charging infrastructure to support wider EV adoption. The PSM Program, with an outlay of ₹34.35 billion ($409 million), supports the procurement and operation of over 38,000 electric buses from the financial year (FY) 2025 to FY 2029.

Several Indian states also provide capital subsidies for the manufacture of EVs and the setting up of EV charging infrastructure.

India also has a ₹181 billion (~$2.08 billion) production-linked incentive program for battery manufacturing.

India has over 7.02 million registered EVs. Sales of EVs reached 560,637 units in the third quarter of 2025, an over 12.5% year-over-year increase from 497,974 units. EVs accounted for 8% of the overall automobile sales, which totaled 5,796,216 units in the quarter.